John baeey



(No Model.) J. BARRY.

CLINICAL THERMQMETBR.

Patented Sept 9, 1884.

' UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN BARRY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLINICAL TH ERMOMETER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,896, datedSeptember 9, 1884.

Application filed April 10, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN BARRY, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ClinicalThermometers; and the following is declared to be a description of thesame.

Clinical or medical thermometers of various shapes have heretofore beenmade. These thermometers are usually provided with a mercurial indexwithin the tube, said index being moved by the column of mercury as itexpands, and being kept separate from the column of mercury by a smallquantity of intervening air. These mercury thermometers are liable toroll when laid upon a table and to be broken. Many of these thermometershave been made of a shape to prevent rolling; but they are liable toinjure the person when inserted into the passages of the body.

The objects of my present improvement in thermometers is to preventrolling or breaking, and to form as wide a surface as possible for thelines and figures, so that they will not be overcrowded on the surfaceof the glass over the index.

111 the drawings, Figure 1 represents the thermometer. Fig. 2 is a crosssection in larger size, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section. in larger size ofa slightly-modified form.

The tube or stem ais made with a mercurybulb, b, at one end, as usual,the tube or stem itself being of the semicircular shape shown in Fig. 2,with the bore or mercury-tube c in about the center of the glass, theglass in section being substantially a semicircle. The back 2corresponds to the diameter of the circle, and the face is ahalf-circumference at 3, with the corners 4 5 rounded, to relieve themfrom sharpness. The mercury-tube 0 being nearly equidistant between thefront and back of the glass, there is a certain amount of magnifyingeffect, although not so much as in some thermometers heretofore made;but the mercurytube, being fiat and wide, is very easily observed. Thetube a (shown in section, Fig. 3, as a modification) is almostsemicircular in shape, the sides 5 6 being slightly flattened. Thisform, however, will accomplish the same objects as that shown in Fig. 2.The semi-cylindrical surface 3 gives ample room for the divisions orgraduations and for the figures, as shown, without being crowded. Theposition of the index can be clearly discerned, and the fiat back at 2presents a surface for the thermometer to rest on that effectuallyprevents its rolling. The glass tube contains a sufficient body of glassfor strength and safety from breakage. There is usually a layer of whiteglass at d to render the mercury more apparent. This thermometerglassmay be used for any other kind of thermometer.

I do not claim a thermometer-tube of either a triangular or square formsectionally with the corners rounded, or with one of the sides convex,as these have been used; but they are not adapted to lying upon the fiatback with the divisions uppermost, or else they are of a shape that isnot adapted to insertion into the cavities of the body.

I claim as my invention The thermometer-tube having a fiat back, a facesemicircular, or nearly so, containing the graduations, the mercury-tubenearly equidistant between the front and back, and the white glassbehind the mercury, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 4th day of April, A. D.

JOHN BARRY. WVitnesses GEO. T. PINCKNEY, WILLIAM G. Mom.

